Sterling Ashton Snyder was your classic overweight, bearded, long-haired, poorly dressed stereotypical nerdish geek well before the start of The Twilight War. Aston is the son of a well-off upper middle class family that spoiled him, never denying him anything that he wanted as he was growing up. The Snyder family that was well connected both in business and social circles. And it was through these connections that he was able to get into a decent college despite his lackluster grades in high school despite his natural gift for mathematics and engineering.

Somehow while he was in college he had earned a Master in Civil Engineering degree and a couple of Associates in the Sciences degrees, in addition he became fluent in Russian and took classes in Russian Literature to fit in with his the anti-establishment crowd that had made up the majority of his friends. Much of his possibly comes from his youthful resentment to his parents and upbringing in a conservative and religious family.

After his graduation from college he had slummed around for a couple of years, until his family used their connections to secure for him a cushy consulting job working for various engineering companies that had kept him in the style that he had grown accustomed to while in college (i.e. he didn't have to shave, cut his ponytail, or dress like "a corporate drone"), allowed him to always buy the newest high tech toy and allowed him to spend his extensive leisure time surfing the web (mostly looking for porn), playing online computer games, and subsisting off a diet that was composed of almost nothing but junkfood, heavily caffeinated drinks and cigarettes. And the only physical exercise he would get seemed to come when he would take part in many public demonstrations and protests that was dedicated to many various causes that were associated with the goals of the Union for a Progressive New America.

Ashton had finally settled down in Chicago, Illinois where he became involved in supporting local elected political officials that he respected… among them was State Senator Barrack Hussein Obama. A man who he greatly admired, especially after the first high-profile anti-war rally on 2 October 2002 that B.H. Obama had spoken at, setting himself up as a leading anti-war candidate for the United States Senate from the State of Illinois.

But suddenly in October 2003, his comfortable world had come crashing down when he found himself drafted after the United States found itself drawn into The Twilight War. While he didn't agree with the war (in fact he was partial to socialist ideology), he found himself in a position that would not allow him to just file for status as a conscientious objector. Namely the fact that his family had stated that if he did not live up to his patriotic duty and obligation to his country that had provided him with all the luxuries that he enjoyed, they would cut him off… and he would quickly loose his cushy consulting job. And that they would not keep helping him pay off all of his student loans.

His educational background was able to get him a pass on having to experience the majority of US Army Basic Combat Training, and he found himself being sent to Officer Candidate School where he became one of the eight week wonders that was being trained to provide leadership in various combat support positions. He had somehow managed to survive the severe culture shock and overcome the trauma of having to shave daily and keep his hair cut to a regulation length, and he even eventually was able to graduate from Officer Candidate School to be commissioned as a US Army Second Lieutenant in the Combat Engineering Branch… where his knowledge of structural engineering was the most needed by the United States Army.

The rigorous physical training inflicted upon him in the truncated Basic Combat Training and Officer Candidate School had helped him loose nearly 100 pounds and had improved his overall physical health and well-being. But despite all of the physical labor and exercise, he was still quite heavy (something he claims comes from being 'big boned' and not form the fact he is always eating anything he can get his hands on). He also used his rank, position and family connections to make sure that he was able to keep as many of his precious luxury items as possible.

After arriving in theater, was assigned to command a combat engineering support platoon assigned to instruct soldiers in the construction of forward bases and later, he would eventually be teaching them how to build and maintain the fortifications of their cantonments. He and his platoon sergeant, SFC Hamilton Dodge had very different styles of leadership. Where SFC Dodge takes a much more hands on approach, 2LT Ashton Snyder would rather stand back and watch while others did the work he had just told them to do.

Being of a naturally cynical (and in his own mind, imaginative) mindset he has been quick to come to the decision that the world had totally changed in the year after the Thanksgiving Day Massacre, and that his Second Lieutenant bars were worth less than a roll of toilet paper. And he has been vocal in his feelings that the world has changed and that things back in the states has either devolved into a Mad Max-esque wasteland… or that the Right-Wing Christian Fundamentalists (whom he exclusively refers to as Christo-Fascists) have taken the opportunity to impose a new, theocracy over the United States, where atheists like himself are sent to re-education camps (or just sent to concentration camps for eventual execution). Even when given evidence that this is not the case… and that the biggest domestic treats to liberty back in the United States has been from the Union for a Progressive New America, he accuses those people of being duped by the Christo-Fascist MilGov Propaganda.

This has combined with his overall condescending and pompous attitude of personal superiority, that 2LT Ashton Snyder and SSG Chandler Wheeler have not been able to get along well at all. SSG Wheeler and 2LT Snyder have had many disagreements over the situation back stateside, as well as disagreements over the existence of God had combined with the intermittent news and mail service arriving from stateside. And even after SSG Wheeler tried to show that his letters from home this was not actually the case, 2LT Snyder accused him of being nothing more than a dupe of MilGov propagandists.

And after finding out that SSG Wheeler is such a devoted Christian he always set aside time each every day for prayer & fasting while he reads his bible, 2LT Snyder started to make off-hand comments that over time became increasingly offensive and insulting even to other non-Christians whom were in the unit. 2LT Snyder has never made it a secret that he is a dedicated atheist who sees any reliance in the belief in either God or a higher power as being nothing more than a lack of intelligence and common sense. It has been the fact that he has been such a total ass about it, has caused even other atheists in the unit to start to question their position with the contrast between the strength of character of the two men.

SSG Chandler Wheeler is a much more down-to-earth and compassionate man who practices what he preaches, does not force his ideals upon others, and helps anyone who needs it without asking for anything in return. While 2LT Snyder is a brash and hypocritical man who forces his ideals and opinions upon others, and will not do anything for someone unless he sees that there is something in it for him.

Service Record & Advanced Education:

1997-2001: d (1997). Joins the Union for a Progressive New America (1998). d (1999). d (2000). d (2001). 2001-2007: Moves to Chicago, IL (2001). d (2002). Drafted into the United States Army (2003). Officer Candidate School (2003). Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army of the United States (2004). Reprimanded for political campaigning while in uniform and attempting to force subordinates to vote for specific political candidates (2004). d (2005). Reprimanded for insubordination (2006). d (2007). 2007-Pres.: d (2007).

Field Gear: a Geiger counter, a mine detector, an EOD toolkit, an Explosive satchel charge,

Personal Belongings: several Hustler & Barely Legal porn magazines, 2 portable DVD players w/a set of rechargeable batteries, a small collection of various DVD movies & TV Show collection, a small collection of porn DVDs, a mp3 player w/2GB memory space & a set of rechargeable batteries, a Panasonic Toughbook laptop w/a collection of computer games & a set of rechargeable batteries, a collection of nine 4GB flash drives full of various books and pornographic material, a SIGMA SD10 digital SLR camera w/ a set of rechargeable batteries,
29 rolls of toilet paper,

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

SSG Chandler Matthew Wheeler, US Army Squad Leader: adult Caucasian male Dedicated 3/Infantry 4 (7th level)
SSG Chandler Matthew Wheeler is generous to a fault, a trait that is often found in rural communities as well as those of the poorer classes in the United States. Chandler Wheeler is one of those people who have given rise to the phrase "he would give you the shirt off his back." Ma and Pa Wheeler had always taught him "what goes around comes around" and that he should always do right by others and they'll do right by you. He has shared his parents thoughts that Money won't buy you friends now, nor provides mourners at your grave side.

Chandler Wheeler and his six siblings had grown-up on a moderately prosperous rural family farm in <state>, and his youth was occupied by the usual distractions that growing up on a farm brought forth. He had grew-up hunting, fishing, riding horses and dirt bikes through the wilderness had taken his time from childhood when he wasn’t doing his chores on the farm. He was never really exposed to the big city life, except for rare trips to the big city. During his High School years, many his teachers had remarked that he was highly intelligent, but he didn't apply himself to much to anything, except for biological sciences and outdoor activities. To help him focus on his studies, his father had worked with him as a Troop Leader of a local Boy Scout Troop where he had risen to the rank of Eagle Scout, and he had become a member of his schools chapter of the Future Farmers of America that prompted him to apply himself to become a better student.

Chandler Wheeler was born into an extremely large farming family, and had seven other siblings who all lived in the large farm house that sat on the top of a small hill overlooking the nearly hundred acres of farm land that had been in their family for almost one hundred and fifty years. He, his elder brother Bryson, and his younger brother Andrew are the only boys that had been born to <a> and <b> Wheeler.

Having grown up on a family farm where everyone did something on the farm, even at a young age children where expected to work as a runner going to get things for the other family members. Once a child gets older, they then graduate from runner to more challenging chores fit for their capabilities. Thus it was in this environment that Chandler had discovered he had a natural gift when it came to fixing machines, much to his father's delight who immediately started working with him in an effort to teach him more and more about taking care of the aging farm machinery.

When he had graduated from High School his parents had insisted he should at least attempt to go to the local community college, where he was able to earn an Associates degree Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences after almost four years since he had such a major problems staying indoors for his classes, and he had just desired to be outside actually doing things. He was happy working with his parents managing the family farm, and that's where he'd have stayed if the war hadn't started. His father approached him and his brothers and said "Boys, the men of our family have always answered when our country has called. So, you all need to go on and get down to the see the recruiter. And make our country just as proud of you, as your ma and I already are." The three Wheeler brothers all enlisted in the US Army that day, and had found their way into the US Army Air Assault, the US Army Rangers and the US Army Airborne Infantry.

The US Army was quick to recognize his outdoor skills during Basic Combat Training along with his natural mechanical skills, and had slotted him for the RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program) that had found him assigned to the US Army 75th Ranger Regiment where he worked on the light armored vehicles that had been assigned to support their operations. While SSG Wheeler is a more than competent soldier, he is still an easygoing, laconic, and relaxed when not involved in combat. SSG Wheeler still maintains a laid-back casualness about him, that is very contagious. He is rarely in a rush and is incredibly slow to anger. Wheeler isn't afraid of violence, and he shares his families strong since of patriotism. He is fairly unflappable, particularly when he finds himself in the middle of stressful interactions with others and can be polite in the face of shocking amounts of rudeness.

He has discovered that he has occasional difficulties with military etiquette; in particular, his tendency to call everyone in authority over him as "sir" or "ma'am" and it sometimes annoys officers and senior enlisted alike. He sometimes shows too much initiative for his own good. For the second time in his life Wheeler had found that he had a knack for something, this time it was the Army. He breezed through basic training, after life on the farm military training wasn't hard at all. He enjoyed the companionship of the other soldiers, something that he had never had outside of his large family.

SSG Wheeler still has a habit of picking-up handfuls of earth to sift through his hands speculatively, and he is very likely to notice that locals have not planted their crops than he is to actually notice that the background radiation count has rendered the area unlivable for the foreseeable future. And this is why he has been assigned an NBC Warfare Specialist so that they can carryout frequent countryside surveys trying to find areas that would be best for locals to cultivate for sustenance farming.

SSG Wheeler had found himself as the man that LTC Malcolm Kaine had turned to when it came to setting up the livestock pens and cultivated fields that now surrounds the 3-143rd Battalion Cantonments. He was also promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant and ordered to educate as many men and women in the Battalion (and other neighboring units) as well as many civilians as possible on just the basics of how to manage livestock and farmsteads. For over three months he had created a small but functional farmstead that he operated as a school that would teach men and women every job that was on a farm in a hands-on environment.

SSG Wheeler worked with a platoon of Combat Engineers to design and build a classic farming homestead that would become the standard model that the US Army would use as the model to build as the cornerstone of their program establishing new farming communities. This program was so successful that it was duplicated by other units all across the US Army (including those units that are back stateside, and has been why MilGov areas have been so capable in promoting the reconstruction efforts of civil authorities under their supervision).

One of the last letters that SSG Chandler Wheeler had received from home during the sporadic mail service, had informed him that CivGov had seized the family farm and has been horribly miss-managing it while using it as a relocation center for 'Displaced Persons' (the 'official' political speak term for refugees). He wasn’t sure what upset him more, the seizure of the family farm that included the family being forced out of the home that they had lived in for generations, or the horrible mismanagement of the farm and its resources that was destroying everything they had worked so hard to build with their own hands. The one uplifting thing that the letter had provided him was that his eldest brother SFC Bryson Wheeler had made it back home after suffering such horrible injuries fighting in Central America and the Caribbean Sea.

SSG Chandler Wheeler and 2LT Ashton Snyder have had many disagreements over the situation back stateside, as well as disagreements over the existence of God. SSG Wheeler is a devoted Christian who has always set aside time everyday to read his bible and pray, something that once 2LT Ashton Snyder discovered started to make off-hand comments that continued to become more and more offensive and insulting as time has passed. Combined with the intermittent news and mail service arriving from stateside has promoted 2LT Snyder to make continued comments that everything back home had either turned into a Mad Max-esqe wasteland or fallen under the oppressive rule of Right-Wing Christo-Fascists. And even after SSG Wheeler tried to show that his letters from home this was not actually the case, 2LT Snyder accused him of being nothing more than a dupe of MilGov propagandists.

a Geiger counter,
a seed cache (a water and air-tight footlocker sized repository of preserved seeds of various types of vegetables),
a well-worn leather bound Bible (New International Version), a mp3 player w/2GB memory space & a set of rechargeable batteries, a portable DVD player w/a set of rechargeable batteries, a small collection of DVD movies & TV show collections, a Panasonic Toughbook laptop w/a set of rechargeable batteries, a collection of nine 4GB flash drives full of books on farming and training manuals (SSG Wheeler calls it his survival preparedness database, while 2LT Snyder calls it his Patriot extremist survivalist database), 9 rolls of toilet paper,

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.

__________________
Fuck being a hero. Do you know what you get for being a hero? Nothing! You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy! You get divorced... Your wife can't remember your last name, your kids don't want to talk to you... You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy. I do this because there is nobody else to do it right now. Believe me if there was somebody else to do it, I would let them do it. There's not, so I'm doing it.